A creative purpose acts as a guide, helping you feel like you are creating towards something that fills your heart and sense of self through self expression. It’s the drive behind what you feel you are meant to do or create in life. The anxious creative tension that helps fuel a creative purpose, combined with the inner drive to make something with meaning, opens up possibilities coupled with expectations - and it can sometimes feel heavy. Intense, prolonged focus on one … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Craft a Support Mantra
June 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment
A support mantra is one of the most effective tools in your creative tool belt. It’s your go-to phrase when you are stuck, feeling low or just need a little extra “oomph”. It’s also a quick way to bring your mind and body back to center and focus on the present - where your creative fire burns strongest. Why do you need a support mantra? Encouragement and creativity go hand in hand. A strong internal support system plays the biggest part in how you brainstorm, innovate, … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Change Up your Creative Zone
June 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment
A creative zone can become as stale as anything else in life when it never changes. Routines and rules, while comfy, block out new stimuli that offer the extra fire you need to shake things up and create from a fresh point of view. The desire to stay in the same old patterns may also signal a little fear that can easily stay hidden for ages under well-worn grooves of familiarity. If life isn’t already calling (or shoving) you towards some big creative changes in your life … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: What is your Go To Creative Fuel?
June 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Creative fuel is the juice that keeps creative expression flowing. It’s how you stay motivated, inspired and curious about the world around you. The more easily accessible the creative fuel, the more available you are to embrace the little creative opportunities life sends your way. So how do you keep your creative fuel tank filled and ready to go? Even more important, do you know when it’s time to rest and back-off so your body and mind can have a little recovery … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Discovering and Building Creative Resources
June 9, 2014 By 1 Comment
Creative resources are all the little tools and strategies you use to play and express your creativity. It’s the eye you develop to spot the perfect shade of paint for your next project, the deal on vintage furniture worth restoring, the sale on herbs for your garden or the fresh new journal you can’t wait to crack open, filling the pages with ideas that come to you in dreams. These simple examples of creative resources are the things I get excited about, and even if I … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Brainstorming, the Ultimate Creative Muscle Workout
June 2, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The term brainstorming has taken a bit of an unexpected detour in the last 25 years, ending up an overused “buzzword” in business. While creative ideas generated through brainstorming techniques are invaluable in business, brainstorming is a powerful tool for anyone to use as part of active creative play. It’s the fire that stokes your desire to dream and create in the first place. That’s why it’s an essential part of any creative budget. The creative seeding … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Physical Movement Cranks up Inspiration and Creative Reserves
May 26, 2014 By 1 Comment
Physical movement is excellent for all aspects of your health. There are endless studies, statistics and experts I could quote to support that statement, but it’s something you likely already know and are making an active choice (or not) to add to your life. You probably also have a go-to exercise option, even if you don’t use it nearly enough. So...I’m going to ask you to try something a little different. Just for a moment, set aside the obvious benefits of physical movement, and … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Inspiring Creative Space is a Cornerstone of a Creative Budget
May 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment
An inspiring creative space makes connecting with your inner creative guidance so much easier. When there is clutter, reminders of unfinished work or a stack of bills staring at you, creativity easily hides in your growing pile of “some day” excuses. Lack of a creative brainstorm space can also make you feel as if you are in a constant state of re-igniting creativity instead of playing with it. All a good inspiring creative space really needs to be is an area to focus and tune in … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Joy, a Creative Budget Essential
May 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Joy is not just for grandma’s and monks. It’s an essential part of any creative budget, and a critical key to connecting to your creative sense of self. I want to focus on joy as the next core piece in my series on crafting a creative budget because it’s why you create. It’s the plug to your juicer, the charger to your cell phone. When you know how to connect with what really brings you happiness, everything else is clearer, the view more crisp. The more you practice choosing joy, the better … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Craft a Creative Budget
May 5, 2014 By Leave a Comment
A creative budget is not just for artists, it’s for anyone with a passion who wants to find a way to spend more time doing what they love. It’s easy to get hyper-focused on responsibilities or distracted by mindless television, so a creative budget can help you make sure there’s room left for things that feed your soul. A budget is also a simple way to plan and save towards a creative goal, just like planning for a big ticket item or a trip. So what exactly is in a … [Read more...]